Brain & Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers in Staten Island, NY
An injury to the brain or spine can change your life in an instant. At Chelli & Bush, Attorneys at Law, our dedicated team is here to carry the legal burden so you can focus on healing. With over 50 years of legal experience and more than $500 million recovered for our clients, our
personal injury lawyers provide the steady guidance and fierce advocacy you need. Our spine and brain injury lawyers in Staten Island, NY, help families put their lives back together and find peace of mind after an accident.
Key Takeaways
- Brain and spinal cord injuries often require lifelong medical care and specialized support
- You could have a serious traumatic brain injury even if initial scans appear normal
- Proving these cases requires a deep understanding of complex medical evidence and future care needs
- Our personal injury attorneys offer free consultations and don’t charge attorneys’ fees unless we win your case
Common Causes of Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
Unfortunately, spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) often occur due to preventable accidents. Our Staten Island personal injury law firm handles hundreds of cases each year. We often see these types of injuries in claims involving:
- Motor vehicle accidents, including car, truck, and motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle and pedestrian accidents
- Premises liability cases, including slip-and-fall incidents and dog bites, and assault
- Construction accidents, often involving falls from heights
- Workplace injuries
Understanding TBI and Spinal Cord Injuries
Concussions, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries (SCI) often affect victims in ways that aren’t always visible to the naked eye, which can make them difficult to understand. If you suspect you have a concussion, TBI, or spinal injury, it’s important to seek immediate medical care and follow up with a qualified neurologist.
Common Signs and Symptoms
Even a mild concussion can be debilitating and manifest as a feeling that something just isn’t right.
Symptoms of concussion include:
- Persistent, dull headaches
- Feeling of pressure in the head
- Nausea or dizziness
- Sensitivity to noise and light
- Trouble concentrating, or feeling mentally “foggy”
- Sleeping much more or less than usual
Additional signs of moderate to severe brain injury include:
- Loss of consciousness, which can range from several minutes to hours
- Slurred speech or difficulty finding the right words when speaking
- Confusion, agitation, or uncharacteristic aggressiveness
- Depression and mood changes
- Weakness or numbness in the fingers and toes
- Vomiting
- Seizures
- Coma
Symptoms of spinal cord injury include:
Spinal cord injuries affect the body’s ability to communicate with the brain, which can result in permanent, debilitating conditions such as partial or complete paralysis. Symptoms include:
- Intense pain or a stinging sensation caused by damage to nerve fibers
- Loss of movement or the inability to feel heat, cold, and touch
- Difficulty with balance and walking
- Muscle spasms
- Lack of reflexes
- Difficulty breathing if the injury is on the upper spine
Our traumatic brain injury lawyers understand these conditions change your entire world. We’re dedicated to helping you obtain the full financial support you need to cover a lifetime of treatment, care, and healing.
Diagnosis and Common Misconceptions about Brain and Spinal Injuries
One of the most difficult parts of navigating a traumatic brain injury is when your symptoms or condition aren’t easily identified. Many families leave the ER feeling relieved because they were told everything looked normal, only to struggle with worrisome symptoms weeks later.
Clear Imaging Doesn’t Always Mean You’re Fine
It’s important to understand that just because a CT scan or MRI looks normal doesn’t mean your brain or spinal cord isn’t damaged. While these are valuable diagnostic imaging tools, they’re designed to find large bleeds or bone fractures. They often miss shearing, which is the microscopic tearing of brain tissue that causes significant cognitive, physical, and emotional struggles.
Delayed Symptoms Can Make an Initial Diagnosis Challenging
Because symptoms of TBI and spinal injuries can be delayed, the full impact of your condition may not be apparent for days or even weeks after the initial accident. Our brain injury attorneys in Staten Island connect clients with specialists who offer advanced testing and diagnostic techniques to figure out what’s really going on with your brain and your body.
Proving Liability and Causation
For a personal injury claim to be successful, you must prove that an accident happened due to negligence and directly caused your brain or spinal cord injury. An insurer may try to deny liability, blame a preexisting condition, or claim the impact wasn't severe enough to cause serious damage. Thorough investigation and strong evidence help us counter their assertions and prove fault. This may include:
- Police and incident reports
- Eyewitness accounts
- Videos and photographs
- Digital evidence, such as cell phone records and Event Data Recorder (EDR) information
- Proof of prior safety violations
- Accident reconstruction
- Current and prior medical records to show how an accident worsened a preexisting condition
Our team also works with biomechanical engineers and medical experts to explain how the forces of an accident impacted your body. We coordinate with your doctors to provide clear evidence that links your neurological symptoms directly to the trauma of the accident. Keeping a daily journal describing how you feel can also be powerful evidence.
Valuing Your Personal Injury Claim
Our brain injury lawyers know how to accurately value your current and long-term needs. We look beyond your medical bills and evaluate the lifetime of support required to maintain your health, comfort, and independence.
We work with medical professionals and life care planners to project the cost of future surgeries, medications, therapy, assistive devices, and home modifications. If you’re unable to continue in your current career or can’t work at all, your personal injury lawyer calculates lost future income and benefits to ensure your family’s financial stability is protected for the long term.
Types of Damages
In addition to future medical costs and income, your Staten Island brain injury attorney can help you pursue damages such as:
- Current medical bills
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
Our personal injury lawyers handle all negotiations with insurers so you can focus on your recovery. Our dedication to relentless advocacy means we won’t quit until we come to an agreement that fully covers the entire scope of your injuries and the impact they’ve had on your life.
Why Choose Our Staten Island Brain Injury Attorneys?
- Serious injury focus—Over the past five decades, we’ve helped victims of catastrophic injures in New York and New Jersey recover more than $500 million in damages.
- A trusted network of experts—Our firm has longstanding relationships with top medical specialists, accident reconstructionists, life care planners, and other experts.
- Client-centered communication—Our team provides compassionate guidance, updates, and clear answers to your questions through every stage of your legal journey.
- No fee unless we win—Our brain injury lawyers in Staten Island offer initial case evaluations at no cost and take cases on contingency. This means you won’t incur any upfront costs or owe attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.